Why Carmel Schools may never reveal more about the dismissal of basketball coach Tod Windlan

Questions and discussions asked of Carmel school officials concerning the girls basketball coaching situation on April 23, 2018. Tod Windlan was fired earlier in the week.

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Riley Pennington wears a "Free Windlan" T-Shirt during a rally outside the Carmel Clay Public Library Central Library in support of Carmel girls basketball coach Tod Windlan who was recently fired, on Monday April 23, 2018. Parents and players were notified of the coaches firing but have not been given a reason for the coach's dismissal. (Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar)Buy Photo

Three months ago, the Carmel Clay school board announced its superintendent was resigning. But when pressed for details the district was vague — even now that the state's authority on transparency said the district should provide a public explanation.

Fast forward and the district once again finds itself in the position of trying to explain why it's not providing details on yet another personnel decision of public interest.

This time, the issue is the decision to dismiss Tod Windlan from his position as high school girls basketball coach.

Parents have demanded more information after the district announced Windlan's dismissal following a "thorough review" of the program, reversing an earlier assurance to parents that he would stay.

“Us players and coach (Windlan) thought his position was secure, and all of the sudden it turned around,” Carmel senior Tomi Taiwo previously said. “We were very, very confused.”

And it might not become any clearer.

Legal experts told IndyStar that in this case the district is likely well within its legal rights not to disclose information.

The district responded on Thursday to IndyStar's record request for a factual reasoning with a statement that said, "the administration determined a change in leadership was necessary."

"The review revealed that there were differences in opinion regarding the leadership provided by the head basketball coach," it stated. "What became clear, however, was that the players and families involved in the program had become divided and the program could be adversely affected by that division."

But the district would not say if any specific incidents led to the decision or whether any school policy had been violated or if students had, in any way, been harmed, physically or emotionally. In other words, what happened.

In explaining why it was not providing greater detail, the district pointed out the basketball coach is under a year-to-year contract and that "there is no expectation that a coach will be continued in employment for the next season." Windlan remains a PE teacher at the high school.

Indiana School Boards Association attorney Julie Slavens said the difference in contracts is important because there is a different due process for permanent teachers. This means Windlan wasn't fired, but rather just not renewed.

That's significant because law requires releasing a factual reason if an employee is fired.

Still, Slavens said the district could provide more detail if it chose to, "but they are not obligated to do so."

Until Thursday's statement, administrators had either not responded to IndyStar's questions, or referred reporters back to the original statement which merely said "there is a need to change the direction of the girls basketball program."

That's a similar approach to the one the school board took when former superintendent Nicholas Wahl and former human resources director Corrine Middleton were placed on paid leave for months before both resigning in January.

In a 16-page legal opinion issued last week Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt said Carmel Schools is required to release records that explain why Wahl and Middleton were on paid administrative leave. He argued that although they weren't fired, demoted or suspended without pay — in which case the law clearly requires a reason be released — they still seem to ultimately have been discharged for "disciplinary reasons," which should be explained.

Regardless, the district informed IndyStar Thursday that it will be offering no further explanation and that Britt's opinion is not a binding legal mandate.

"Carmel Clay Schools believes its actions are in full compliance with Indiana law," the statement said.

Slavens said it is typically best practice for a district to say less rather than risk a lawsuit from a former employee. School districts, she said, still need to respect employees' right to privacy.

"You don't give up your constitutional rights and your rights to privacy just because you work for a public institution," she said.

Local employment attorney Stephanie Jane Hahn said she would like to see districts put students first. When school corporations do that, she said, then the likelihood of any potential lawsuit is greatly diminished. The truth is an "absolute defense" to a claim for defamation, she said.

"To the extent a school corporation employee harms a child in his or her care or control, that the child’s right to be free of abuse - physical or emotional - trumps that employee’s “right” to be employed," Hahn said.

Hahn said, in her opinion, a district should release more information to the families of any children involved.

If the coach had done something illegal, that may be a situation where Carmel Schools should ethically choose to provide more information, Slavens said. Carmel Police Department spokesperson Lt. Joe Bickel confirmed Tuesday the department has not been involved “in anything related to the dismissal” of Windlan and was not part of the program investigation.